they saw an 8% growth rate from 2012 to 2018 making it the fastest-growing city in the nation with more than 50,000 people and we are not talking about a tech hubble wealthy oil town. the median household income is $26,000 far below the average. the population in cities like bees are growing nationwide the number of people 65 and older more than doubled over the next 50 years and when the aarp what amenities they most wanted close to home the number one answer was a bus stop. not of pharmacy. it was more important than a grocery store. it is how important their mobility and independence are to those seniors. what that postcard from the future is trying to tell us is the we will not be able to

accommodate that kind of demand driven by change and growth unless we invest in transportation today. and specifically public transport. of course more people means more people trying to get to work and because this is america it also means more people starting and growing businesses and they will need to connect to workers. a very recent example. when the big blizzard in january shutdown boston's public transportation massachusetts general hospital had a real problem. according to the hospital, nearly half of their employees take public transit. so in the midst of this very dangerous storm they were literally working overtime to make sure they could get enough on every shift to serve their patients. that is the situation that is not as unique as it sounds.

in atlanta, university study looked at 50 industry sectors that make up the region's economy and it found that 14 of the 18,000 fastest-growing sectors are among those whose workers rely heavily on local transit services to get to and from work. so although atlanta doesn't suffer from many nor'easters, any long-term disruption to its public transportation system would seriously throttle that region's ability to grow. nationwide according to the bureau of labor statistics four of the five projected fastest-growing jobs pay wages of less than $27,000 a year. we are talking about retail sales persons, home health aides, personal care aides general office clerks, many of

whom rely on public transport and the reason our future selves are such downers is at the rate we're going today we are not going to be able to keep up. in fact decades of disinvestment are going to make our jobs even harder. if there is one thing people in this town can agree on is that our national infrastructure is in a woeful state of disrepair. the most recent report card from the american society of civil engineers gave the nation's bridges the c plus, road and transit a d, our levees and be-. these grades are improving. in transit systems nationwide as you well know we have an $87 billion backlog in repairs estimated to grow by $2 billion a year. your elected leaders are aware

of this fact. if a missed it before, secretary fox recently traveled through many communities on other big blue bus to call attention to it. his message was very clear and very simple. we need to do something now and we need to do something big. to these urgent reasons to invest, let's add another. the health and well-being of our communities and their people. later this week fta is hosting a conversation call rides to wellness that aims to improve cooperation and coordination among transit, health care and social service providers. we will be joined by representatives from health and human services and the u.s. department of agriculture as part of our ongoing effort to work together more effectively on behalf of the people we serve. with more americans covered by

health insurance is important that they are able to access preventive care and regular checkups at the doctor a perhaps instead of in an emergency room. for instance there are 15 free screenings provided by law and this is fantastic but it can be hard to convince someone to go to the doctor before something is broken or bleeding or hurting them. that is specially true when they lack reliable transportation to get there. 80% of medicaid health care costs are attributable to chronic diseases that could be better managed with more frequent care. but you have to get there. improving access to health care and doing it in a more coordinated way is going to be a growing challenge particularly in rural areas that lack

transportation options. as you speak to the elected leaders about the urgent need to invest in transit, remind them that you not only connect people to jobs and education but you also connected to a vital services like health care. with so many compelling reasons to invest our nation's transportation infrastructure the only question seems to remain, how can we possibly afford to fix this? i submit to you today than the real question we should be asking is how can we possibly afford not to? as secretary fox like to ask figuring out how to provide the future is going to be so difficult, should we make it worth it by going for something league instead of something half measure? this administration's answer is the girl america act. you have heard a lot about it in the year since it was introduced. we will be building and

expanding on our proposals this year and the president's proposed budget for fiscal year 16 is a good indication of where we are headed. as the secretary mentioned includes six years of funding for transportation totaling $478 billion. fet a's chair for fiscal years 16 is $18.4 billion, an increase of 67% over current funding. by the sixth year it would grow to 76% higher than current funding for six your total of $115 billion over the proposed authorization period. f y 16 budget includes a record $3.2 billion for capital investment grant programs known as new starts and small starts. it would increase the facilities

program dramatically providing more funding for state of good repair, introducing the new rapid growth area rapid transit initiative which would provide $500 million in new service. these are not programs we just made up out of thin air. they are in response to what we have heard from you in terms of what your customers want and because the transit industry is changing along with the rest of the nation we want to make major investments in work-force development and train the personnel we are going to need for the future. if much of this sounds familiar it should, it is by the time the latest short-term measure, the grow america proposal will be one year old. yet here we are. having this same conversation and staring down the same

decision. it is clear that not all of us have picked up the post card from the future and turned it over to see what it says. that is why it is up to you to deliver the message. i know what secretary fox would have asked of you today, to tell the truth. the unadulterated, unvarnished unambiguous truth. tell congress about the many good projects that are stalled, the ones that would create jobs and ease congestion and bring us into the 21st century in a bold way. it can take many forms. i still like getting the old-fashioned kind on paper with a stamp. it can be a knock on a door. it can be an e-mail. it can be a tweet. for the younger generation,

maybe it is instagram with a picture of stalled traffic court and overcrowded rail platform for a picture of someone they love boarding the transit van to go to dialysis. the bottom line is the message has to be seen it has to be heard, and it has to be acted on. let's go out and do it, thanks so much. [applause] >> thank you, administrator of macmillan. i want to turn the program to our session moderator, diana mendez, a senior vice president and director of america's transit please. [applause] >> good afternoon, everybody. welcome.

thank you very much acting administrator macmillan for communicating the message from secretary fox, please send secretary fox our well wishes, we wish him a speedy recovery. i am by and mendez and i am delighted to be your moderator today where we will have a very lively and interesting discussion with the federal transit administration and the federal railroad administration. i am now joining acting administrator macmillan and we will be hearing from sarah feinberg, acting administrator of the f r a who joined the administration and jan. ninth 2015. in this capacity, she manages the $20 billion real investments portfolio and develops real safety regulations and oversees

research and technology development programs. prior to coming here ms. feinberg served as chief of staff to the secretary of transportation providing strategic advice and counsel regarding operational and legislative initiatives across all modes of transportation. updating us about the major goals and initiatives of the federal railroad administration we will turn to ms. feinberg. please join me in welcoming her. [applause] >> good afternoon. it is such a pleasure to be here today with my colleague and friend teresa macmillan. in multiple role as chief of staff for secretary fox i always appreciated the commitment this organization shares with the administration's goal of making the national transportation network safer, more

interconnected more reliable and more efficient. your board your members and staff, faint you for your partnership and support over the years. i am so honored to be here with you today and there are no greater friends than the department of transportation. i am a pretty frank person so let me get to my main point and we will get to the moderated conversations. i want to spend our time talking about safety and the importance of bringing a fresh perspective and new thinking to some old problems and about surface reauthorization and the incredibly important opportunities we see there. but first safety. as all of you know and much to the credit of the people sitting in this room overs last decade total train accidents are down. derailments are down, highway grade crossing incidents of the client. the rail industry in many ways is safer than it has ever been

in history. that is all good news and all of you deserve great credit for these improvements but most recently some of those numbers look to be kicking up on us again. over it last year the number of incidents increased by 9% and the number of fatalities increased by 16%. this next figure is less of an issue for commuter rails to worry about, just this morning the wall street journal reported on f r a data showing the violent rupture accidents on the rise. my point is this. those most recent statistics alone surf as a reminder that our work is not done. we have a long way to go to get through the zero accidents and injuries and fatalities. two weeks into my new job, a grade crossing accidents killing

six people and injuring 15. and crossing accident in california. and a crew member died. and 27 other passengers were injured. stock contained reminders, a waste to go to make grade crossings safer and i will that we have news of another grade crossing incident an hour ago in north carolina so we are hopeful that that will be less dramatic and everyone there as well. that is one reason safety is the centerpiece of the administration's reauthorization proposal. we have to take independent actions as well. just because it is an old problem one we think we will never have solved doesn't mean we shouldn't give a fresh look and ask ourselves what more we can be doing. following the metro-north grade crossing incident i immediately asked staff, men and women who have literally dedicated their

entire careers to keeping people say that or near crossings, take a fresh look at how we approach safety. last week i called upon law enforcement agencies to step but more patrols at grade crossings increase their efforts to write citations to drivers who don't obey the rules of the road and start employing best practices to better safeguard our communities. in coming weeks we will have more to announce about increasing public awareness about grade crossing dangers how to better employ technology and how we might be able to increase funding to assist local communities that want to improve safety features at crossings. other than friends and families no one understands the pain of these incidents like the train crews and operators. these incidents are truly devastating for everyone and we shouldn't lose sight of the price cuts of many colleagues have taken. as we said on so many items over

the years we look forward to working with all of you, partnering with you to continue to bring down the numbers of injuries and deaths but on reauthorization. a lot of talk in washington about getting rail and surface reauthorization done this session and we are so encouraged by that progress. use things could be more important for more valuable use of congress's time. the fact that the house of representatives took an important first step last week in adopting a rail reauthorization measure is a huge sign of momentum and i congratulate everyone who worked so closely with chairman schuster to get the bill done but we need to do more. we need a comprehensive rail reauthorization package that includes funding and safety provisions to implement pp see. it if the process moves ahead we look forward to working with both chambers of congress as the

craft a measure that sustains end enhances safe and reliable rail network for those passenger and freight rail services. we are at their ready partner and we will do anything in our power to assist them in moving a package forward. after all we have a lot at stake here. our grow america proposal, six year transportation funding bill would give states the funding sentes they need to bridge the nation's infrastructure gap. as all of you know rail is unique when compared to other modes of transportation in that it lacks the committed source of federal revenue. correll america will provide predictable dedicated funded for rail with the establishment of a rail account for transportation trust fund. grow american means $29 million investment over six years to improve rail safety and invest in a national high performance

rail system. it also builds on current investments to vastly improve the system in areas ranging from p t c implementation to enhancing flexibility and financing programs that will better enable the rehabilitation of aging infrastructure. grow america would make changes to improve existing programs. among other topics the act would enhance the rest program making it more accessible and flexible for borrowers. revamp amtrak's planning process to address immediate and long-term goals such as addressing the backlog of good repair needs. advance safety research by focusing on risk reduction and new equipment testing, assists the railroad industry in implementing p t c as the backbone of the next generation of rail safety. grow america would create new programs to focus on current passenger rail service and the development of future passenger rail service.

these programs include the establishment of new amtrak grants that would provide a longer-term view of maintaining passenger rail assets and services and good working conditions. the rail service improvement program will provide competitive grants to drive development of high performing passenger rail networks. this provides funding for pc implementation for commuter railroads and states and localities. and fruit processing improvements and rail ryan moore relocation efforts. simply put grow america is a blueprint for beginning to close railroads infrastructure gap and setting the table for the next generation of safety. these are forward thinking, large-scale improvements that come with an extremely important by products. the creation of good paying jobs and the strengthening of our national economy. our nation's infrastructure gap gets more important with each

passing day of inaction. it is no secret that our aging infrastructure and the gaps that exist in our transportation system must be dealt with and soon. congress is aware of these needs but only congress can act on them by passing grow america. i believe congress will take action but it is up to all of you to make sure congress gets it right. we must build on the proposal put forward by the house in order to see a comprehensive rail reauthorization bill enacted that would address rail safety benefit freight partners and other modes of transportation, continue to support the successes of our inner city passenger rail network and provide the resources, predictable dedicated funding to address our backlog and make improvements required to meet passenger and freight mobility needs of the population. we will all benefit from a comprehensive bill. rehabilitating our aging infrastructure it simply cannot wait any longer. thank you and i look forward to

working with all of you and taking your questions. [applause] >> thank you, miss feinberg for your remarks and both of you gave us very inspirational and insightful speeches but certainly clearly communicated that it is up to all of us to make the future successful. we are going to take some questions from the floor but before we do that i would like to start out just talking about funding and financing. obviously demands increasing and funding and financing is becoming more and more challenging. so one strategy to address potential long-term financing involves public/private

partnerships. i am just curious what you see as some of the great success stories and what advice you might have for those seeking public/private partnerships. >> public/private partnerships, seen increasing numbers emblem all time. what secretary fox and the president both said which i think it's important is that it is part of the answer but not the answer. i do not want to take public and private partnerships as the reason why congress does not have to pass a comprehensive bill. it needs -- to supplement bill and certainly one task forward that i hesitate to put too many aids in the basket. we still need that bill. >> one thing to think about is certainly we want to broaden our

sense about what effective participation is in the transit industry so for example a lot has been turned to transitory and development. but capturing the value of that development with transit i think is very important and very rich area to build a good relationship with the private sector because not only in the more common way where you may make a contribution toward the construction of a project what about capturing the ongoing value for on going -- we have been working closely with a number of agencies, a lot of creative work is going on out in the industry right now all. we want to bundled up and see if there's a more aggressive way we can encourage that type of partnership in bringing the

private sector forward. >> federal railroad administration has been working on a number of improvements, financing program. can you share? we are happy to see cammed financing. can you share with us the improvements that you see? >> yes. we are very focused on this. i give secretary fox lot of credit. he has said one of his priorities is by the time he walks out the door on january whatever 20th, 2017 that he did like that account to be at zero. that means we have $35 billion to loan out. which if anybody knows how these programs work is going to be difficult but it is a good challenge to have. >> we doing a couple things. we are trying to think more creatively about potential

applicants. we have been narrowed in our view previously. so whether it is the mayor of newhaven talking about what it needs or whether it is rahm emanuel talking about chicago union station or even potential for some ability to stabilize crude before it gets a place and to transport i think we would be open to all of that. so we are much more creative in thinking about to the right applicants would be and also trying to move faster. and a fine line between trying very hard to assist those who are going to make infrastructure improvements and build new infrastructure projects that also incredibly careful with taxpayer dollars and making sure all that money gets paid back so that terms are excellent but it is important, it has taken a

long time to get more efficient about how we help people get through the loan process. >> as you are looking at the evaluating projects to see a program or railroad investment program how has climate affected how you look at and evaluate politics and what advice you have for people who make their projects competitive and attractive for federal investments? >> i think certainly for new starts and small starts, we have put -- we have statutory criteria we have to examine so there are a number of different factors we evaluate. given the incredible

competitiveness of the program clearly is those agencies that are able to leverage the federal dollar, able to play in that pool and another aspect of it is very important as well, once you get the project built you have to run it. that is not a small issue. one of the things that we have seen in my conversation today with a number of different agencies as i did in my remarks with secretary fox over and over, we have to expand the growth so we see in the country and we have to be nimble about the types of investments we can pursue. it is not just about heavy rail or light rail and these other modes. at the same time you have to be in a stable enough environment

but once the project is done and the agreement is concluded, to maintain that system and we invest in the system over time so it is to be competitive you need i think to demonstrate that you have a handle on that holistic view and you can convince the federal government of partners that you are able to be there for the long hall. >> would you like to add to that? >> i would say that we are interested in trying to make these programs work and so being in touch on the front end of talking through a project, through a loan application, through the financial audit we want to be able to bonuses money out so we are not going to suggest the new figure it all out on your own and turn in a big package to us and we market up and say no thank you get in touch with us on the front end and we can work with you and

make sure the application is in great shape so we can move things along faster. >> safety is at the forefront of all of our minds everyday and i am sure you have some advice and insight to share with the audience as different safety programs come on line in advance of the new safety regulations. what would you advise people to think about and get prepared for? >> federal transit is interesting because sarah has had at safety, federal safety portfolio for a long time. all of you know the great challenge for the federal transit administration is now at 21 did as for the first time significant federal regulatory authority. ..

>> that just simply won't happen. and so we've been spending a lot of time, you know explaining and building on what's going to be the centerpiece of our work which is a, you know, safety management system approach, an fms approach used extensively in the aviation industry, faa has deployed it for some time. being explored by a number of our sister agencies. and again the thought is you

approach this not as a checklist of all the things you have to get right but as a racing management -- risk management approach where you look at your worker safety environment, and you build a program around your risk management portfolio. so, you know, that's not a concept that's very easy to put on paper -- [laughter] >> right. >> by any stretch. ask we're working on -- and we're working very hard to get all of the various elements through the rulemaking process to respond to the map 21 requirements. and it continues to be top priority for us today. >> so my advice is, you know, i touched on this in my remarks a little bit. we are when faced with old problems trying to bring new thinking and a fresh perspective to old problems. so grade crossings is a good example of a very old problem where we've made a ton of progress. and i think, you know, there's

some inclination to say, oh, it's mostly driver error, what are you going to do about somebody trying to beat a train, if somebody's a little disoriented at a grade crossing. so we're trying to bring new thinking to that old problem. and i think with new problems we're trying to bring comprehensive thinking. so the crude by rail issue is a brand new problem. it is a problem that we have because we are becoming an energy-independent country which is wonderful, but not necessarily -- i don't think everyone's been thinking about the challenges that come along with energy independence. and so those are issues that we have not been tackling for a long time, particularly in terms of the quantity of a volatile product that's moving throughout country. so we're trying to think very comprehensively. how do you incentivize industry to make the product safer before it gets put into transport? how do you incentivize the railroads? how do you put certain expectations in place such as a zero tolerance policy for anything that happens on a crude route? so comprehensive thinking for

new problems and new thinking for old problems. >> and that takes all of us at the table to do that in pickup. in partnership. >> right. and actually sarah brings up a point i'd like to reiterate too. you know, we've tried very hard under this administration and secretary fox has, you know, made it a key point in, you know, the beyond traffic framework that was put out there. we have to stop thinking about ourselves in just our little modal boxes and as a transportation system. and safety is one area where that really does come to bear. secretary fox has done an enormous amount of work emphasizing bicycle and pedestrian safety. well, in the transit mode that's really critical for us, because a lot of people get to our system walking or biking or will leave our system walking or

biking. similarly in sarah's world, we can talk about a grade crossing this is the interface between our particular mode of transit and highway mode, cars or pedestrians in the case of trespassing and the challenges associated there. so, you know this whole notion again of a sms corrupt is very help -- construct is very helpful in getting around not only the safety of your mode but the safety of your system and how it interfaces with other modes as well. so it's an exciting time to be, you know, thinking about safety in these different dimensions. >> this is particularly with the new technologies and the ability to do better analytics to really address the most pressing needs. >> so i'm sure we have some questions in our audience. i'd like to offer the opportunity for members of the audience to ask their questions.

please let us know who you are and where you're from. >> thank you. peter very gas from grand rapids michigan. hi thee reese. thank you about the thought about the postcards i really hike that idea and try to imagine how that works. you mentioned something really good about the whole thing of talking photographs and sending them and instagram and using that whole social media. so what hashtag should we use, you know? should we use hashtag stuck in traffic that we use in that conversation? [laughter] which one so that everyone starts being in the same conversation on that? >> oh, wow that's a creative question. maybe we should have a contest. [laughter] get all your good ideas. >> how about hashtag grow america? >> second traffic is a good one too. >> there's so many elements. >> hashtag do something. [laughter] >> i'd like to bring up something that, you know peter

stressed so much in your, you know tenure as chair of aca how about hashtag it's about people? you know, because i think a large part of this is it's not an abstract concept. this is about moving the american pluck and the things that -- american public and the things that they need to do. and i think in all of our conversations it is so easy to lose that piece of it. and so, you know, an opportunity to reflect something that a critical part of all of our -- >> i do love that having a contest though. we should talk that back to d.o.t. and have a contest. we had an internal contest when we were naming grow america which at that point people had been up, you know, all night for months and weeks and were exhausted x at some point on our way out the door we'll have to brick out -- bring out the list of suggested lusts because it was a race to the bottom, but it

was very funny. >> make sure everybody gets it. >> okay, great. >> terrific. thank you. yes? >> hi. i'm jeff warden with impulse out of north carolina. my question pertains more towards the work force and the jobs part to acting administrator mcmillan. we know just last week a initiative, a pilot project came out on geographic hiring preferences, and the question i have is if we can get some definition on the local hire as it pertains to rolling stock procurement. you know as manufacturers we employ a variety of sub-suppliers all throughout the u.s., and we're just having a little difficulty understanding what the intent is when the geographic hiring pertains to rolling stock procurement. and is it the intent that we're going to be looking at moving factories in order to accommodate the local preference? >> the local hire initiative has

a couple of elements to it. one is, as you mentioned it's a pilot program. it's very important, it is a pilot program for communities and entities that want to explore -- well and particularly for fhwa and fta because we have statue story requirements now finish, you know competitive procurement is to say to list what has been interpreted to be a prohibition on geographic hiring. this is for folks who want to explore what this is about. this is not a mandate that you have to do it but we want to more systematically explore whether geographic preference does, in fact, impose constraints on the competitive bidding environment. this is a way of getting experience on the ground with entities that want to pursue these and see how it applies. given that it is a broad pilot

test, we wanted to look not only at construction but also at procurement. so we don't go in with a specific -- the whole point about a pilot program is for communities to bring ideas to the department of transportation as to how they would want implement a geographic hiring process -- preference and under what suckers. and important -- and under what circumstances. and importantly in the pilot you are supposed to be able to demonstrate, you know, what your objectives are how those were met, how the preferences actually did impact the bidding environment that you saw. so we're going to be gathering databased on these -- data based on these pilots. so we're not coming in with a preconceived notion, we're setting up pilots to get an idea from local communities. >> thank you. sir?

>> i'm -- [inaudible] you're both absolutely correct, the mantra is safety, reliability. i want to add two more, serviceability and maintain about. a question, for those of us small companies who are in the business of r&d, for example in the railroad crossing issue is there a way for us to get to our thoughts over to fra so we can tray to develop some of these ideas and make something that will make those accidents completely avoidable? >> so, yes. that's a -- first of all, you can e-mail me at sarah.feinberg at dot.gov because we want ideas on this but also we have a whole policy research and development arm of fra that is

constantly helping think about these things. they do human factor research massive amounts of research in pueblo they, you know, run trains into each other and see what happens. but they also work on these human factors and new technologies that are coming that might help us down the road. so that's all easy to find on our web site, but you can also just e-mail me. >> thank you. >> this is also just very quickly, you know, i think sarah and i will grab as many opportunities as we can to also plug, you know, the work that's being put forward in the beyond traffic document. a huge part of that 30-year view is in the whole arena of new technologies and innovation. secretary fox has been very blunt in his assessment that the transportation industry is particularly in the public sector we're always chasing

innovation, you know? and he wants to have us start thinking about how we can get in front of it and harness technology to the use of what we want to do rather than constantly sort of being behind the curve. and so a large part of a re thinking, if you will, is how do we get ahead and make sure that we are not just doing research for the next technology that a might be available in the next couple of years but in the next 25, you know next 30 years. and how do we weave that into our planning and development. so not only the immediate things we might be able to put in place which are critically important but we also want to have your thoughts about how do we take that more forward view. >> hi my name's ben johnson, i'm from northern california

with tridelta transit in antioch, and my question is twofold. basically, number one is if we do not get funding -- that's the first thing, we don't get this process going and get the funding through the legislature -- where are we going to the go with the projects anyway? because if we've got 15 that we don't have funding for and then 16's coming and then elections coming and you're going to have all new cabinet members coming in and etc. that's going to create a monster of a problem for a lot of people. and so i think that's my concern. and we talk about -- you just made a good point about the curve of getting ahead of the curve. well, if you go to china, i've been to china, seen their process, i've been to korea and seen their process and i can say looking at those processes, they're ahead of the curve. they planned it. especially in japan. i noticed in japan they were really ahead of the curve because they had all the high-speed rail, and so did china. china had a few problems with those.

my concern, i guess asking the question is, if we have shovel-ready programs already ready, how do we get them up to top of the list? because sometimes i see that they don't get to the top of the list. and so what can we do as an agency our own local agencies to move those projects to be up there on top to get them done and get the funding to be able to do them? we have a project now that the governor in california just approved the high-speed rail project. well it still needs the funding to get it finished and if it doesn't have the funding, you know, or it's going to sit out there in the middle of nowhere and just sit this, and we can't get it dope. it's an important project because it'll show in the united states what's, you know, what high-speed rail will do. and we just need to move forward and get those up. and maybe you can give us some, give me some ideas of how i can bring it back to the people in california to figure out how we can do that. >> right.

well a couple points. one, i mean i think the good news is we have a couple things going for us, first of all, at the moment. one is that even though it feels like bad news -- [laughter] that the surface transportation, that the highway trust fund's going to run out in may, it also means that something has to be done right? it's not, we're not -- at least we have not yet gotten to a world where the congress is actually so disfunctional they're not going to at least extend it. what we need is a big bill, but manager will be done before may -- something will be done before may. and, you know, i have been in the very up comfortable spot of looking at my watch thinking you've got five days, seven days, how much money are we going to make it? so that's a vehicle, first of all, for manager big to be done. -- for something big to be dope. meanwhile, exactly as you said be efficient with your projects fete them started. -- get them

started. i don't think any member of congress wants to be in a position where you've started a project, you've obligated funds and then we can't continue with the project. doesn't matter who's in the white house doesn't matter who's in charge of the congress you don't want to have to take obligated funds and try to deal with them afterwards, and you don't want to have a stranded asset, right? so i think that's going for us that you need to make as much progress as you possibly can so that when this administration leaves, there's an effort to continue those projects in the next administration. and, you know, the other good news i think we have going for us is that infrastructure and transportation has always historically been topics issues that bring parties together. and so it's one of the few things even in this very partisan political moment that we're in that's likely to get worse as we head into a presidential election cycle it's one of the few things that usually brings people together. and so it's less likely to be effective than everything else.

>> and i just have one orr question in regards -- one other question in regards to rail, and that has to be with the process of getting the, for instance our major process right now is moving the rail through the cities. and i happen to be one of the cities that we're moving it in. we're looking to actually have a facility in our city. but the problem is our communities are, you know, because of all the problems that they've had and the crashes, as you mptioned before that -- mentioned before that are up is how do we appease the people of the community, or what would be an idea for you to give to us to appease those people and get them on another level to where we could actually do this? i know that there's issues with rails not being level and there's a lot of issues out there for maintenance. and that's an issue with financing. and so how do we get the financing to -- or how do we get the rails people to listen to what we have to say? because i think that's probably

the worst thing i've seen dealing with the rail, you know? you get them to come to -- try to get them to come to your city to talk about what they're planning and how they're doing it. i notice union pacific just recently has been giving a pig boom of how good they are -- a big boom of how good they are on the tv. and i'm hoping that we can figure out a way to get that together because, you know, when people march and it doesn't do any good to march and stand in the front of the train, we talk about incidents, that's how they get created. so i just -- it's important to me as a public official besides being on a board to figure out how to help my city and the transportation industry at the same time. >> right. how can communities and railroads get along better, right? >> well that's -- >> an age-old question, right? everybody should be good neighbors to each other. but, look, i mean, you know i think it's important to remind

communities that those kinds of resources will tend to make their lives better easier, more efficient, help them take care of their families. it's really important to remind the folks coming in that, you know, the community is supposed to be their partner not just you know someplace they blow by at 70 miles per hour and wake up everybody in the middle of the night with a horn. you know, i don't know. i feel like i'm giving political advice, but to both sides i'd say be good to each other, be good neighbors and if it gets really bad call us, and we'll try to bring everybody together. [laughter] >> yeah. it's easier said than done. >> yes. >> okay, thank you very much. >> always challenging. >> yes. >> hi. i'm lisa -- [inaudible] with sound transit in seattle, and we've had a few projects that had fta fhwa and fra oversight on the same project. and some of the compliance

issues got a little complex and i for one got a little confused. are there any efforts going on to kind of simplify or coordinate compliance issues across the modes? >> yes. [laughter] and we use the term harmonization. there's actually been a number of areas where coordination of programs and/or oversight between the modes has -- i'm very familiar with the circumstance that you're working on and frankly, you know each -- any particular project will have its own circumstances, and in this case we had fhwa and fta, you know, up through, you know washington leadership working to figure out a way to deal with that.

with that circumstance. there's been a lot of discussion, for example between fta and fra in terms of better coordinating our nepa projects. we need to be able to, you know, insure that we're not making people do things twice. and so again, certainly on a case-by-case basis, we've tried to anticipate that. and as sarah had said, you know, early intervention is much more helpful than getting down, you know, toward the end. so that also involves working in pickup with the project -- in partnership with the project's sponsor to make sure that we coordinate up front as well as we can. but beyond that, you know, there's been i think, a lot of folks generally on streamlining. that was a major focus of map

21, it continues to be a focus under the grow proposal, grow america proposal. so without going into a lot of specifics, i don't have it in front of me here it does continue to be an important element and a theme that both secretary fox and deputy secretary victor mendes deliver to us on a frequent basis to do as much as we can with the authorities that exist and also pursue things going forward should they need statutory change. >> so what's very interesting about the streamlining initiatives is the common theme that it is up to all of us to make that happen. it's not for a federal agency to have to sort out. yes, there needs to be a statutory framework and a consciousness and awareness, a partnership, but at the end of the day, the project sponsor, the community all do need to come together. so very consistent with your messages and your remarks.

yes. >> thank you. i'm jack key -- jackie dupont walker, board member, l.a. county. in case anyone doesn't know that's california. [laughter] i really want to thank you both for the updates today, and in l.a. county we have a high percentage of unemployment and underemployment that impacts areas particularly with some of our projects actually under construction, the light rail. we're very excited then about the innovative public transportation work force development program that has come out. and so, ms. mcmillan, could you share urn the lad -- under the ladders of opportunity grant a timeline for awarding those? because it'd be extremely important for the neighborhoods and communities in which we're doing the work to see more immediate benefit if we can actually create those apprenticeship opportunities and we have the strong support of our unions now and a lot of

partnerships. and it's been frustrating to try to provide those opportunities quickly. and so if we knew this was coming, we could be prepared. lots of staff members are here today, they could go back ready. assuming we're going to be one of those grant awar dees. [laughter] >> well, you know, as much as i'd like to, i can't give you a definitive timeline in large part because what we have been seeing -- and this is the dilemma that we have with any discretionary program -- we have so many more, first of all, we have an increasingly and unabating interest in our discretionary programs no matter what it's for. we are always oversubscribed. i think tiga program has been oversubscribed six or seven times every single year. when we had the ladders of opportunity bus program we had 14 times more requests than money available and similarly

with our work force, you know we're a product of, to some degree our own success. by pressing work force needs every year we put out a new work force grant we get more and more applications. but, you know your point is very well taken that these efforts are only useful to the degree that you can get them out, you know as soon as we can. so we will be, you know, putting great attention to evaluating the projects and, like you want to see them get on the ground as soon as possible. >> thank you. >> hi. good afternoon a. i'm with the brush consulate based in new york -- british consulate based in new york. my question has to do with public/private partnerships, and i agree with the comment that ppps are not a silver bullet. but given the scale of investment that this country needs in its infrastructure, certainly it has to be a key piece of the puzzle. now, last year the president announced the build america initiative led by secretary lew and secretary fox.

and one of the main priorities was to educate, work with state and local governments and educate them with regards to p3s because in many cases they're negotiating with the private sector and they don't necessarily have the expertise given that some of these projects are once in a lifetime, it's very important that, you know, at the federal level we're able to provide a center of excellence where we can work with state and local governments to get them educated to get them to understand, you know, where p3s might be helpful, where it might be useful. and so i just wondered if there is sort of an update on how that work is coming or any ambitions you have on working with local government. >> so you're exactly right. the president and secretary lew, secretary fox announced that last year. it is in the process of being implemented and stood up. i think ultimately, it's going to live at the department of transportation. there are, the goal would be to or

sort of access a concierge service to potential projects both with streamlining and assisting and getting them moving quickly and helping people understand the process and the deal making and providing some expertise for towns, entities. and it's actually moving along quite well and starting to staff up, and i don't think we've got a ton to say about it, no particular announcements today. but it was not one of those announcements that sort of happened and went off into the ether and then we all thought about it. it's underway and getting worked on all the time. so -- >> yes. i'm john wentworth, pedestrians.org. you talk about the issues of pedestrian safety, getting the passengers to the bus stop. the treasury agency owns bus, might own the sign post at the bus stop, then you're dealing with it might be a county road, it might be a state road.

how do these pedestrian safety initiatives work across all levels of government? >> it works probably as differently in every community as, you know, exists. one of the things that is a, as i mentioned is a major initiative being overseen by the secretary's office of policy is the bike safety initiative and also the secretary wants the mayor's challenge for bike and pedestrian safety. and there's a number of -- and i'm going to spook to this in broad terms since i don't have all the details, you can find them on the web site. there's a number of bike safety bike and pedestrian safety challenges that are going on across the country. and the idea is to select a community and, in fact, to your point, you know, do a deeper dive into a particular safety challenge whether it be a very busy intersection where you're trying to is access a major

transportation -- in our case a major transit station or it could be a corridor where there's been a high incidence of bike accidents in the past or what not. and begin to work with the community. so fhwa or fta would be sort of a lead agency, but coordinating with the local community to identify the nature of the problem and the array of solutions that could be brought to bar. i know a key point of all of that is the coordination between the various entities that need to be involved to wring it together -- to bring it together. one of the reasons why again, this safety management system approach, i think, is going to be so valuable for our transit agencies in terms of safety is that you'll need to ask the question, you know for my system how important is the connection with pedestrian interface? do i have a number -- is this a

centerpiece, say, for my new bike network that i'm building in my community because i'm actually encouraging lots of people to come to my station and bike? therefore, who would i work with at the public works department in the, you know, in the jurisdiction where i am to insure that the right, you know lighting or fixes or something are in place. so i think all of that is to say we're recognizing it's a very dynamic and very sort of case-specific area. like so much of what we need to do, there's not a balloon oh here's -- blanket, you know oh, here's the format that i need to fill out to make these things work. so, you know i think you just highlighted in your question the actual, you know, challenge that we're facing. as much of this as might be a technological or engineering

fix, coordination among the agencies that oversee all these parts is as much of that solution as think of it. >> in the end, it's about people, right? >> and in the end, it's about the people. bring down injuries and fatalities in any way we possibly can. >> thank you. sir? >> david willcock michael baker international, boston, massachusetts. a question for administrator feinberg. we've been talking a lot about funding moving forward. last week from the house, i believe it was the passenger rail reform and investment act of 2014 emerged after once again a fight over what happens with amtrak. we have some major investment needs in the northeast corridor, but we also have many areas such as the midwest. we heard a gentleman earlier about the california high-speed rail, southeast high-speed rail. tremendous amount of high-speed rail and passenger rail investment that's wanted.

how are we going to move forward if we continue to have these debates over whether amtrak continues to exist or not? >> right. well, first of all, i think it was a good sign that the bill passed last week with such an overwhelming margin, by such an overwhelming margin. i can't tell you when we're going to stop having the fight over whether amtrak should exist or not. it might not be in our lifetime. hopefully, it will be. but, look, i think increasingly it's -- look, it is, i think increasingly an argument that is losing steam, right? so even in a moment where we've got republican control of both houses and increasing tea party presence, this is not an argument that i think most people think, you know, suddenly we're going to be without amtrak in two years. so i think it's, i think it is -- more and more people understand and recognize the

importance of connecting all these maces and how rail is so e integral to that amtrak's so integral to that. and, look, i think amtrak is sometimes guilty of bringing a little bit of the tension on itself right? and identify been very -- i've been very frank with them, and i think ohs have too. it is a wonderful company, a wonderful entity, they provide a service that is irreplaceable. that said it's important to be, in my opinion, really transparent with the hill. talk about where the money's going, talk about how you're going to reinvest, talk about how you're going to perform this service up and down the east coast and across the country. they work really closely with us. we urge transparency. we've gone to the hill with them and talked about how we think it's really important to be transparent. so i think we'll have some moments when people, you know, who might not be huge fans of amtrak in the first place see numbers they don't like or see parts of amtrak, divisions of

amtrak, different business entities losing money but i think it's important to have a really transparent conversation about it because i think amtrak provides a service that i think is incredibly important to the country. so kind of a long answer. >> thank you. >> okay. >> good afternoon. >> good afternoon. >> good afternoon. [laughter] >> i'm valerie mccalcar i'm -- mccall i'm the chair of the transit board members committee but also in my day job i am the chief of national and government affairs for the city of cleveland, ohio, so i didn't want to sit up here and not say thank you for the program on local hiring rulemaking. as you all know, i spend a lot of time up at k.o.t. in conversations over the last ten years about that. sometimes we have projects and have local laws with local hiring requirements, we cannot implement this. of course we will be submitting some comments. thank you. >> thank you. >> thanks.

>> well, coming back to the theme about it being about the people obviously, afta has a continuing interest in working to improve coordinated human services transportation. and it involves a whole myriad of interests and overlapping programs. we all talk about project development streamlining, but here's maybe another area -- [laughter] where we could have some realignment and simplification. what in your view, could be done to bring more federal agencies to the table to work in a more coordinated partnership? >> well, you know, the reason we're having -- and i have to give kudos to my staff and the team at fta for pushing forward this rise to wellness summit that we are having on wednesday. you're exactly right, diana, we have been charging up the hill of better coordinating as i like to say, across our

cylinders of excellence -- [laughter] the available resources we have and we see a new opportunity for conversation because the affordable care act created access to health insurance for you know, hundreds of thousands of families and individuals and comets to you. but if -- and continues to grow. but if they can't t get to the assurances that the insurance is providing, then obviously, you know, there's a huge gap in achieving the goal that we want to achieve. so it's our hope that the health care industry sees a vested interest in becoming an active part of this dialogue along with transit providers and along with the federal agencies that are you know bringing forward young, much of the regulatory

and implementation framework for these things to say, you know we have to, you know, get beyond our past which actually, i mean, there was a presentation i heard just recently that made the observation that when you're dealing with a taxpayer dollar, there's an incredible attention to trying to avoid in any way waste, fraud and abuse. i mean that's just a basic tenet in protecting taxpayer dollars. however, sometimes in carrying that out you can make the strictures so rigid that then you can't recognize an environment that's changed to serve the very people that these programs are being set up to help. >> right. >> and so the beginning of it is maybe sitting down and having a very lucid and comprehensive discussion about that changed environment and the needs that it creates and say what tools

cowe have? -- do we have? maybe we have all the tools we're just not using them right we're not putting them together in the right way. so that's where we're going to start. and i think it's incredibly important that the folks that we are bringing together come to it with the idea that they can be invested in the solution and that this isn't some top-down thing that the federal agencies are trying to impose. this is really about all of us recognizing that we're not serving the client base that needs our help and that we actually are here serve. we can do better, let's talk about the ways to make that happen. >> terrific, thank you. do we have any more questions from are our audience? >> we've exhausted everyone. [laughter] >> oh, i see somebody approaching the microphone. let's give her a minute. >> good afternoon. my name is linda -- [inaudible] i'm actually a doc, i'm a

physician out of texas. so since you gave me such a great lead-in -- [laughter] i'm part of an aco, accountable care organization called quality alliance. we have a region algae graphic scope. i'm here as a guest of dart, and my question for you is this: if health care can come together and we can get very creative in how we serve the populations both in getting them to the clinics proactively and building health care, decreasing expense, where do we start? having those conversations is a wonderful idea, very interested in doing that, but how do you get it started? so for the state of texas as an example, where would we start? >> well, you know we're asking that same question, and we recognize -- you hear this theme over and over, but you hear it because it's so true over and over again. it's not going to be the same starting place and ending place for the communities in texas as it may be for california as it may be for boston. one of the things that we have

also launched is we have provided funding for system pilot programs, and i'm just looking to henry to make sure i don't push -- pilot programs oriented around um communities that they themselves are, you know pulling together the cadre of interests that they need to assemble in order to tackle this problem. and so we're providing some funding actually to let the commitments themselves -- the communities themselves get into this definition space of, you know what's our client, what's the problem, what are we trying to achieve what resources do we already have versus what we might need. and we want to essentially, fund those conversations. and so we have -- how much money -- >> so we've got about $300,000 -- through our national center for mobility management.

that opportunity is currently on their web site -- [inaudible] march 27th, so we did think that the perfect place to start -- [inaudible] and hopefully through the federal pickup we'll be able to -- federal partnership -- so aisle give you my card and i'll make sure -- >> that'd be great, thank you. >> and, you know just keep tabs on the fta web site after the summit which again, i'm really excited. that's going to be on wednesday. we'll be posting summaries of what's happened next steps that will be coming up because this is an initiative under the secretary's larger ladders portfolio that we'll be pursuing

for, you know, the next several months certainly. >> sir, your question? >> good afternoon. todd lang from the baltimore mpo. i'm also the co-chair of the -- [inaudible] planning subcommittee. wanted to see if you had any update on the timing for the transit asset management and safety regulations and then comment on the delicate dance that needs to occur after that with the states, the mpos and the transit providers? >> well much as i gave my colleague over here from l.a. my i really can't give you timeline, i can say that both transit asset management and the safety rule makings are top priorities for fta. i mean those -- they're just so fundamental to, you know on their face the new responsibilities given to us under map 21, but the industry just really needs it and we work really closely with them. so working hard to get it out as

soon as we can. the point that you made about you know the interaction, though, i think is very important because we've made the case for some time that our transit agencies need to be very much engaged with the metropolitan planning process. some of them are some of them not quite as much. secretary fox has made it another important part of his objectives is to strengthen the -- well, to strengthen the regional planning process generally. but also to insure that transit and all of the parties are clearly on the table. so it really points to getting the notice of proposed rulemaking out actually on our joint planning rules. that actually is -- i know that that's undergoing comment now.

the comment's chosed on the nprm for the joint -- closed on nprm if i'm remembering correctly. so that's moving ahead, you know, like a gazelle on the savannah through the rulemaking process. [laughter] and in the larger scheme of federal rule making, that's been trucking along. [laughter] so that's going to be a very important part once, you know that will make it out in terms of the planning foundation for the types of discussions we're going to have to be having. >> yes, sir. >> yeah. [inaudible] pedestrians.org again. it's a major -- if a major rail passenger project receiving federal funds and political changes delay it for four years, and the next administration -- >> i have no idea what you're talking about. [laughter] >> what happens to those federal funds? are they still available? does it start back from square

zero? what are the rules? >> so don't be so pessimistic. [laughter] unless -- you're probably trying to get the money though so you interested. so we're doing our best to make sure that everything that can possibly be obligated can is obligated which is our job to do. there's a deadline on that. we're not sort of scooting things under -- across the border. we have a deadline for obligation, and so we will be obligating those funds. i can't speak to what could possibly happen later, but i think the close or you get to building -- closer you get to building these projects and having them completed the more people are excited that they'll come to fruition. i'm hopeful that regardless of what happens we'll be in food shape. >> all right. last call for questions. thereyou've been a wonderful audience and, please join me in thanking acting add mer mcmillan and feinberg on with behalf of apta

and all your membership. we appreciate your candor and the time you've dedicated to come here and show us how the federal government can partner with us for a better tomorrow so that our postcards will be ones of positive messages and sense. [laughter] so thank you so much. appreciate it. and to our audience and our viewers, we, please, encourage you to join us for a view from the hill session at 3:45 to hear directly from congressional staffers on the industry and inside perspectives of upcoming legislation. so that is at 3:45, view from the hill. [inaudible conversations]

>> coming up tonight on c-span2, the memorial service for former u.s. senator edward brook of massachusetts, the first african-american popularly elected to the senate. senate chaplain barry black will lead the service and secretary john kerry and delegate eleanor holmes norton are expected to give jewelies. see -- eulogies. see the ceremony at 8 p.m. eastern. >> keep track of the republican-led congress and follow its new members through its first session. new congress best access on c-span c-span2 c-span radio and c-span.org. >> the senate will begin debate today at 31 a.m. eastern -- 11 a.m. eastern on a human trafficking bill. the measure would impose fines and penalties against anyone

convicted of human trafficking and provide more financial assistance for victims. the senate agreed to proceed to bill during monday's session. work is also expected this week on the 2016 federal budget. also on monday senate minority leader harry reid and democratic whip dick durbin talked about a letter signed by 47 republicans addressed to the leaders of rapp onion going -- of iran on ongoing nuclear negotiations. they remarks from the senate floor run about ten minutes. >> this negotiation is unprecedented and very critical to our country and the world. the stakes really couldn't be higher. we as leaders should do everything we can to help these negotiations succeed. when it comes to preventing iran from obtaining a nuclear bomb we should put partisanship way to one side.

sadly, though, the judgment of my republican colleagues seems to be clouded by they have abhorrence of president obama. today they sent a letter to the iranian leadership sabotaging these negotiations. of let's be very clear, republicans are undermining our commander in chief while empowering the ayatollahs. just last week benjamin netanyahu was here in the capitol decrying the evil intent of the iranian leadership. republicans at that speech, which took place down the hall from where we all stand today in the house chambers stood, applauded, stomped their feet t and yelled supporting what the prime minister of israel had to say. now, today these same republicans are trying to negotiate with these very same leaders in in iran that netanyahu said we shouldn't be negotiating with. this simply doesn't make sense. the outcome of the negotiations

between the united states france germany china russia and the entire world is so important. the main participants in these negotiations are the united states france united kingdom, germany, china russia. each though we're the negotiators, one of the negotiators, the negotiations, in fact, the entire world as i've said. this letter is a hard slap in the face of not only the united states, but our allies. this is not a time to undermine a commander in chief truly out of spite. we should always have a robust debate about foreign policy, but it's unprecedented for one political party to directly intervene in an international negotiation with the sole goal of embarrassing the president of the united states. throughout the eight years of president bush's presidency, democrats -- i -- disagreed with his foreign policy. i spoke about it here on the floor lots of times. we know the disaster that was iraq.

but even at the height of our disagreements with president george w. bush senate democrats never considered sending a letter to saddam hussein or other iraqi leaders at the time, never considered that in order to be an embarrassment to the commander in chief, george w. bush. to i say to my republican colleagues, do you sew discolleague -- so discolleague president obama that you would take this extraordinary step? apparently so. this is an extraordinary step and why it was taken i really don't understand other than the dislike of the president. barack obama is the president. i've agreed with him on certain thing, and i've disagreed with him on certain things. but he is my president and he's all of our president. it's time for republicans to accept that the citizens of our country twice elected president obama by large margins as president of the united states. obviously, republicans don't know how to do anything other than to attempt these seemingly juvenile political attack against the president. congressional republicans don't know how to get things dope,

they don't know how to govern. and if you don't believe what i just said, look at the press today. read a newspaper. look at the news. the pundits all agree that the republicans are a state of disarray here in the congress of the united states. they don't know what to do or how to do it. today's unprecedented letter -- [inaudible] by a united states senator who took his oath of office 62 days ago is a kind of pettiness that diminishes us as a country to the eyes of the world. republicans need to find a way too get over their an -- to find a way to get over their an animosity of president obama. >> will the senator from nevada yield? >> i'd be happy to yield. >> thank you for your remarks on this letter. i can't think of a precedent where you have had one political party try to interveer in international negotiations. if these negotiations fail it's pretty clear to me that one of the options on the horizon is

military action against iran. i pray to goodness that we never reach that point. but i want to ask ask the senator from nevada those who are so anxious to scuttle these negotiations to undermine these negotiations, do you think they reflected on the fact that the alternative could be another war in the middle east? >> i say to my friend, who i've served with in this congress for 33 years, i've never seen anything like it. i've never seen anything like it. i disagreed with president bush so very, very much to what he was doing to our country. but i would never, ever have considered anything even close to this. the only thing i can figure out is what i've said the dislike of the president is so intense by republican leaders that this is what they're doing. they can't accept the fact that this good man, barack obama this man with an unusual name was elected twice by

overwhelming margins by the people of this country. and for him doing his very best to try to alleviate a problem that exists. it would be better for the world, i think everyone should acknowledge that if we can work something out with iran so they don't get nuclear weapons. and we've got to try to do that. and to prejudge what's going to come if anything, the president of the united states has said there's less than a 50% chance he can get it done, but shouldn't we let him try? >> if the senator would yield for another question. i cannot -- in the history of the senate dating back to the 1940s when senator van den burg from california joined in a bipartisan effort on foreign policy and for decades when we served in the senate, kind of the stock phrase was that politics end at the water's edge when the president is representing the united united states overseas. we can argue and use our

constitutional powers to argue back and forth, but we want to give the president the authority to try to protect and defend this country. can the senator from nevada, who is a student of history can he recall any other time when a group of senators, a partisan group of senators reached out to a party in negotiations with the united states directly as letter has done? >> i say to my friend i guess my thoughts have been clouded by the people i worked with here. it was just a few years ago two outstanding united states senators who will go down in history books daniel inouye and ted stephens. one was a good republican one was a good democrat. but they worked arm and in arm on issues that made our country a better country. they would never ever consider -- if they were here today, they would be here on this floor p demanding, what is going on here? these two men had your chairman ranking member of the

appropriations defense committee that funds the money for our military. these two men worked together on that subcommittee for more than a decade, and they worked together. i -- my judgment is clouded by what i worked, the people i worked with here who would never consider anything like that. >> i'd ask the senator from nevada further with question didn't we also have a similar precedent when senator mccain and senator kerry were leaders in our effort to finally establish democratic recognition of vietnam and normalize relations? this was a bipartisan effort to try to move us beyond the painful chapter in our history which cost so many american lives. that too, was bipartisan, as i recall. >> and if anyone should have some ill feelings about vietnam, john kerry -- who came to the house of representatives like you and i. he was in a prison camp for five years. >> john mccain. >> john mccain, i'm sorry. four of those years in solitary

confinement. john curry was shot, he was wounded. highly decorated but he had a little beef with vietnam, with vietnamese. and they worked together because they thought it would be good for our country to reestablish relations with that country. so i'm -- my mind is, i repeat, clouded with the experience i've had in this body with leaders like mark hatfield, republican. these -- who would never ever consider anything like this. i just i'm dumb founded that 47 of my colleagues would sign a letter. they -- last week they were over here as i said jumping up and down cheering the prime minister of israel because he was denigrating what was going on in iran. you can't negotiate with these people. and now they're send ago letter to the same people that they were cheering against just a week ago? >> politico has more on this story this morning. senator tom cotton is firing back at vice president joe biden's criticism of this letter

to iran. quote: joe biden as president barack obama's own secretary of defense has said, has been wrong about nearly every foreign policy and national security decision in the last 40 years. cotton said on msnbc's morning in a reference to robert gates who ripped biden in a tell-all memoir after leaving office. quote: if joe biden respects the dignity and institution of the senate, he should be insisting that the president submit any deal to the senate. biden released a strong hi-worded statement on monday night saying that the letter is beneath the dignity of an institution i revere. more on that in today eat hit coe. in today's politico. and the u.s. senate is about to gavel in. senators will be working on a bill that would fine and p penalize persons convicted of human trafficking. that bill would also provide more restitution to victims. amendments and votes are possible after the party lunches which are from 12:30 until 2:15

eastern today. and now to live coverage of the u.s. senate here on c-span2. the president pro tempore: the senate will come to order. today's opening prayer will be offered by our guest reverend adam briddell associate pastor of the asbury united methodist church right here in washington d.c. the guest chaplain:let us pray.